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India Posts Record-Setting One-Day COVID-19 Death Toll

VOA News

   India is reporting the world's highest single-day death toll from the
   COVID-19 pandemic.

   The Health Ministry Wednesday said 4,529 people died in a 24-hour
   period, the first time the South Asian nation posted more than 4,500
   single-day deaths during the pandemic.

   India now has 283,248 COVID-19 related deaths out of more than 25.4
   million total infections, placing it second behind the United States,
   which leads the world with 587,219 deaths out of a confirmed 32.9
   million total infections.

   A surge of new infections in the world's second most-populous country
   has created a humanitarian disaster, with hospitals filled to capacity
   and an acute shortage of oxygen to treat the sick, with scores of
   makeshift crematories rushing to burn the dead. Experts believe the
   actual casualty figures are much higher than the official figures.

   Tokyo Olympics
   Amid growing calls to cancel the upcoming Tokyo Olympics due to a
   growing surge of new COVID-19 infections, International Olympics
   Committee President Thomas Bach pledged Wednesday in the Japanese
   capital that both the Olympics and the following Paralympic Games will
   be safe for everyone involved.

   Bach promised that more than 80% of residents in the Olympic Village
   would be vaccinated against COVID-19, and that extra medical personnel
   from various national Olympic committees would be available to help out
   during the games.

   The demand to cancel the Olympics got its strongest boost Monday when
   the Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association, which represents 6,000
   primary care doctors and hospitals, posted an open letter to Prime
   Minister Yoshihide Suga Monday warning that hospitals in the Japanese
   capital city "have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity."

   The surge has prompted authorities to place Tokyo and several other
   prefectures under a state of emergency. The Olympics are scheduled to
   begin July 23 after a one-year delay because of the pandemic. The
   Paralympic Games are set to begin on August 23.

   Taiwan on Level 3 alert

   Authorities in Taiwan announced Wednesday the island will be receiving
   400,000 AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines through the World Health
   Organization's COVAX initiative as authorities raised its alert level
   for the entire island.

   The Level 3alert, which was already in effect for the capital, Taipei,
   imposes a near-lockdown on the island, with all non-essential
   businesses forced to close and residents required to wear a face
   covering while outdoors. The alert also limits personal gatherings to
   five people indoors and 10 outdoors.

   The self-ruled island had been held up as one of the world's fewest
   success stories in containing the spread of the coronavirus, with just
   2,017 total cases and 12 deaths, but it has been dealing with a sudden
   outbreak of new infections that authorities have connected to outbreaks
   among flight crews with state-owned China Airlines and a hotel at
   Taoyuan International Airport.

   Taipei reported 267 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, just two days after
   posting a record-high 335 new infections. The island has 2,260 total
   confirmed infections and 14 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins
   Coronavirus Resource Center.